Frigate Orpheon
Frigate Orpheon (フリゲートオルフェオン, Frigate Orpheon) is a starter stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is one of three stages that has its roots in the Metroid universe in Brawl, but the first based on a location in its Metroid Prime sub-series. In Ultimate, Dark Samus is fought here for her unlock battle. ContentsStage overview[edit]Frigate Orpheon's portrayal in Brawl borrows several aspects of the original locale and implements it into the stage. The general design is very reminiscent of the frigate as it appeared in Metroid Prime. As well as that, it sometimes experiences power outages, knocking out the lights and therefore making it more difficult to see the position of the platforms. The Parasite Queen is featured inside the reactor core whilst utilizing the same rotating forcefield it used against Samus in the boss fight with it. However, the Queen is merely there for aesthetic reasons; it has no effect on the proceedings of the brawl. The main element that has been integrated into Frigate Orpheon is the 180 degree flip. The stage actually has two different arena layouts arranged in a vertical column opposite each other, but players are only Brawling on one at a time. Every so often, a loud siren blares out and a bright yellow warning light flashes in the background. This indicates that the stage is about to turn upside down. When this happens, the camera quickly shifts around and the characters fall onto the other layout. The sudden movement can put people in difficult situations depending on their positioning when the flip took place. However, game director Masahiro Sakurai suggested on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! that staying in the air when the alarm is going off will reduce the negative effect that the stage's flipping has on one's character. The stage layouts are as follows:
Ω form and Battlefield form[edit]In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the main platform of the Ω form and Battlefield form is the main hard platform of the normal form resized and reshaped to match Final Destination and Battlefield, respectively. The three soft platforms of the Battlefield form resemble the one in the normal form. The stage also does not flip. Hazards Off[edit]With hazards off in Ultimate, the stage stays in the first layout and never flips, the walk-off platforms are removed, and the power outages do not occur. The soft platform on the right still moves up and down in intervals. Origin[edit]At the beginning of Metroid Prime, Samus Aran received a distress signal from the nearby Frigate Orpheon and soon discovered that the vessel had been utilized by Space Pirates to research the mutagenic substance known as Phazon. While fighting her way through the facility, she also learned that two Parasite Queens escaped confinement, which forced an emergency evacuation six hours prior to landing. She discovered that one was successfully killed, and eventually found the reactor core and battled the remaining Parasite Queen. This stage is based off the room in which the two fought. In Metroid Prime, Samus would have to try to aim and shoot the Parasite Queen while blue energy shields spun around her. Those blue energy shields can be seen in this stage. After defeating the creature, the reactor reached critical meltdown status, and Samus was given just seven minutes to flee the vessel. She managed to escape to her ship, and, shortly afterwards, Frigate Orpheon crashed into the planet Tallon IV. The blackout that occurs in this stage is likely a reference to the meltdown upon defeating the Parasite Queen. Tournament legality[edit]In Brawl, this stage is usually a counterpick and is sometimes banned in tournaments. This is largely due to the flipping of the stage, which can cause unintentional self-destructs. The stage's main difference from other starter stages is that the right ledge is ungrabbable at certain times. This creates a large disadvantage for characters that rely on tether recoveries, such as Olimar and Zero Suit Samus, as well as other characters who rely on the ledge to recover, such as Falco or Link. Frigate's moving platforms can also help characters recover should they be lucky enough to land on it, similar to the Support Ghost on Yoshi's Island. In Ultimate, the stage remains a counterpick in some tournaments, but is often banned. Though turning stage hazards off removes the flipping effect, the platform that moves up and down remains on the stage, and can give advantages to certain characters. Gallery[edit]Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Names in other languages[edit]Trivia[edit]
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